Short and wiry, he starred on Broadway in A Delicate Balance, The Gin Game, and Foxfire. On film he appeared in Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt (1943) and Lifeboat (1944), and he collaborated with the director on the screenplays for Rope (1948) and Under Capricorn (1949). Some of his more recent films include The World According to Garp (1982), Cocoon (1985), and Marvin's Room (1996). He was married to the actress Jessica Tandy, with whom he frequently appeared on stage and screen, from 1942 until her death in 1994.